Sixteen years ago, BAMUN became the first Model United Nations national conference in Barranquilla. The founders of BAMUN firmly believed on the people from the Caribbean Coast as well as what they had to offer. Apart from this, BAMUN became the first to introduce innovative committees, or UN Organs, such as the United Nations Environmental Program, the International Court of Justice, the Historical United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the World Bank, amongst others. We were one of the first models in Colombia, and maybe even in an international scale, to have cultural presentations in its Opening and Closing Ceremonies, as well as unique after-conference get-togethers, because of our strong belief that MUN is more than an academic activity. Ultimately, BAMUN was the first conference to offer workshops for faculty advisors during the model.

MUN primarily focuses on the formation of young students in order to prepare them for facing the conflicts that afflict our world today and in the future ahead. Apart from being trained on international policies and the functions of the United Nations, MUN members acquire a unique global perspective of the world in which we live in and learn to find solutions based on consensus. In addition, it teaches people from an early age how to resolve problems by through dialogue and how to manage the peaceful confrontation of ideas. We believe that with the knowledge and understanding of real world problems, we acquire virtues that help us resolve life's problems, not only in a professional level, but on a personal scale as well. We live on a particularly small planet that shows itself bigger because of the bond between humanity, because of the brotherhood that exists between us. Nations will no longer stand alone, because no matter the race, religion, or nationality, we still have something that unites us, and it is the solidarity that must exist between every human being.

By: BAMUN XVII Secretary General, Maria Laura Acosta. Class of 2018.

As students, we never realize the magnitude of how our actions may affect those around us. With age, the possibility of changing the world becomes a reality for most of us, not just a simple dream. Today, students who belong to the MUN program stand out exactly because of this. An MUN student believes in the power of taking the world into their own hands and making a difference, regardless of the obstacles that may come their way. MUN students stand out amongst others, mainly because of their ability to see international conflict as something that affects their everyday lives, rather than a simple tragedy happening miles away from their reach. They stand out because of their will to seek possible solutions in order to make their dreams a reality. It is said that the purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well, and this is an ideal that us, MUN students, wish to live by.

By: BAMUN XVII Secretary General, Maria Laura Acosta. Class of 2018.